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East Entrance Trails: Devils Kitchen & Echo Canyon

Heart of the World | Thursday, May 29, 2025

I headed out after work this afternoon to the East Entrance of the Colorado National Monument so I could continue working on my Heart of the World project by hiking the Devils Kitchen and Echo Canyon trails. These are two trails close to home that I have hiked a number of times in the past, but I now realize that it’s been quite a while since I have hiked either one of them. After quickly looking through my old Trip reports it seems that the last time I hiked to the Devils Kitchen was almost a decade ago and the last time I was in Echo Canyon was way back in 2013. I guess I have been long overdue for a return and it was nice to revisit these locations at the east end of the Monument this afternoon, even if it was pretty warm out!

A Quick Loop on the Corkscrew Trail

Heart of the World | Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Although Diane and I have been busy this week getting ready to leave for the Grand Canyon on Friday morning, I felt like getting in a quick hike after work on Wednesday afternoon and decided to revisit the Corkscrew Trail loop in the Colorado National Monument so I could check another trail off my Heart of the World project. The last time I hiked the Corkscrew Trail was almost a decade ago when Diane and I went searching for dinosaur tracks in Ute Canyon, so I was looking forward to the return visit. Even though it had been getting pretty warm in the valley just a few short days ago, a cold front moved through the area overnight which significantly dropped the temperature out and made things a bit chilly on the hike today.

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Monument Canyon, Wedding Canyon & Kodels Canyon

Heart of the World | Saturday, March 15, 2025

After staying home early on Saturday morning so I could try to get a permit for Desolation Canyon at 8:00am and was successful, Diane and I hopped into the Jeep and started driving west towards Utah since we initially were planning to spend the rest of the day exploring Eagle Park within Arches National Park. However, as we were speeding along I-70 between Grand Junction and Fruita the clouds from the storm that had passed through the area overnight were clearing and the view over to the Colorado National Monument was looking very nice, so we decided to change up our plans and go hike the loop in Monument Canyon and Wedding Canyon instead.

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Short Walks from Rim Rock Drive

Heart of the World | Wednesday, February 26, 2025

When I left from work this afternoon the clouds over the Grand Valley were looking nice so I made a last minute decision to head up into the Colorado National Monument so I could take some photos from the overlooks and continue working on my Heart of the World project. After driving to Fruita I looped back to Grand Junction via Rim Rock Drive through the park and went for a few walks on short trails from the road including Otto’s Trail, the Coke Ovens Trail and the Ute Garden Interpretive Trail. It was a nice way to spend a couple hours after work as the days continue to get longer.

Third Flats: Twist-N-Shout & Rocky Stumble

After Work Adventures | Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Since we’ve had a bit of a warm spell this week with temperatures reaching into the mid and upper 60’s I thought this would be a good day to head out on my first local hike after work of the year. After leaving work I drove up to the Third Flats Road in the Bangs Canyon Recreation Area to hike a loop consisting of the Nut-N-2-It, Twist-N-Shout and Rocky Stumble trails with a little detour onto the Short Shot trail. Once I reached the end of Rocky Stumble I followed the Third Flats Road back to my Jeep to make a nice little four mile loop. I’m looking forward to more After Work Adventures this year as the days continue to get longer. Here are a few photos from the short hike.

Tag: grand junction

East Entrance Trails: Devils Kitchen & Echo Canyon

A Quick Loop on the Corkscrew Trail

Monument Canyon, Wedding Canyon & Kodels Canyon

Short Walks from Rim Rock Drive

Third Flats: Twist-N-Shout & Rocky Stumble